Market News

Oil prices have been supported by the political crisis in Venezuela, the stricter US sanctions against Iran and the production cuts from OPEC.  Thursday saw oil prices however plunging with US crude dropping ….

Last year before the imposition of sanctions, Iran, was the fourth-largest producer among the OPEC countries at around 3 million barrels per day.  On Monday the United States demanded that buyers of Iranian oil stop buying oil by 1st May or face sanctions. 

The United States and the EU have been battling for almost 15 years at the World Trade Organisation over subsidies given to US plane maker Boeing and Airbus, its European rival.

A deadline of 31st October was given to Britain to leave, with a deal or no deal, on the condition that May holds an election on 23rd May, to return British members to a new European Parliament that convenes in July …

After meetings in Beijing last week, China and the US are in intense negotiations to end months of trade war that has rattled US global markets.  Chinese Vice Premier Liu He met with President Donald Trump in the White House with the goal to reach an agreement on core issues.  

British lawmakers voted on Monday to seize control of Brexit for a day in a usual bid to find a way through the Brexit impasse after Prime Minister Theresa May Divorce was rejected again.

Nearly three years after Britain voted narrowly to leave the European Union, its departure is uncertain. On Wednesday, Theresa May asked for at least three-months delay to Brexit to buy time to get her twice rejected divorce deal through parliament.

Prime Minister Theresa May won legally binding Brexit assurances from the EU on Monday as she rushed to Strasbourg to agree additional assurances with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. May promised lawmakers a vote on her deal on Tuesday. The motion put forward by the government said that the joint instrument “reduces the risk” that the United Kingdom would be trapped in the backstop.

In an ECB meeting held on Thursday it was decided that interest rates will remain at record lows at least through the end of this year. In addition it launched a new Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operation partly aimed at helping banks roll over 720 billion euros in existing ECB loans and avoid a credit squeeze that could further worsen the current economic slowdown.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for a summit with US President Donald Trump. The aim of the summit was to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. The summit however ended earlier with US President Trump walking away. Trump said the summit ended without a deal because the two differed on sanctions.

A new round of talks started in Washington on Tuesday between the US and China to resolve the trade war, followed by higher level talks on Thursday and Friday.

In late 2018, the British economy has slowed sharply pushing annual growth to a six-year low. Uncertainty over Brexit had an impact on the business investment and a slowdown in the global economy weighed on trade, data showed on Monday.